There were serious injuries to workhorse running backs in NFL Week 4. The most significant were the knee injuries to Atlanta Falcons‘ running back Cordarrelle Patterson and Denver Broncos‘ JaVonte Williams.
Fantasy football owners are wondering if Atlanta and Denver’s backup running backs are worth a waiver wire pickup, so let’s take a look at those replacement options.
Tyler Allgeier & Mike Boone Emerging As Potential Waiver Wire Pick Ups For Week 5
The Falcons turned to rookies Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley in Patterson’s absence. Both backs ran the ball 10 times on Sunday, while Allgeier also caught a pass for 20 yards.
It’s clear that Atlanta is much more confident in Allgeier taking over the lead back duties from Patterson. Allgeier played in 24 offensive snaps (44%) last week against the Browns, whereas Huntley only accounted for 12 snaps (22%).
Similarly, the Broncos lost Williams for the remainder of the season due to an ACL injury. Although they have veteran Melvin Gordon III already handling a portion of the duties, he’s had a fumbling problem throughout the course of his career that has been magnified in recent weeks. It’s hard to imagine Gordon handling the full duties of a bell-cow running back given those problems.
Enter backup Mike Boone.
The 27 year old veteran spent the first three years of his career as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. And while he has spent most of his time with special team, Boone has had some success in the Vikings’ backfield in relief duty. Boone has 78 rushes for 434 yards and four touchdowns throughout his career.
Since signing with the Broncos, Boone has been hidden behind Gordon and Williams, but expect him to get some carries now that he’ll be the RB2 in Denver.
The Broncos could still make a call for a running back on the trade market or in free agency, but expect Boone to get a chance to prove himself this week before any potential move to replace Williams.
The safest move would be to add Allgeier on the running back waiver wire market for fantasy football. But Boone is certainly a name to keep an eye on.
